— Reveals that Government have commenced issuing allocation papers to original Shop owners in A line-
Abia State Commissioner for Trade and Investment Chief John Okiyi Kalu has said that the State Government under Governor Okezie Victor Ikpeazu has set a minimum standard for the remodeling of the entire Ariaria International Market.
Okiyi who led Journalists for on the spot assessment of the progress of work at the first three blocks in the A line of the Ariaria International Market said Governor Ikpeazu through the remodeling of the Ariaria International Market has shown that the overall wellbeing of Abians were his major concern.
“You can see for yourself how far this administration has gone, we have set standard for the remodeling of the entire Ariaria International Market with what we are doing here in A line”
“With this development, the incoming administration cannot go below the standard we have set here, they can choose to go higher but this is the minimum standard we have set for the total remodeling of the entire market”
He said the State Government has commenced issuing allocation papers to original Shop owners in A line who have complied with the developer.
Okiyi said the governor deserved commendation for breaking a developmental jinx in the market which he described as a “child of necessity”
“If other administration from the old Imo State has done half of what Governor Ikpeazu did in this market, then Ariaria would have been a world standard market before now”
On his part, the developer Mr Henry Okoroafor said each of the three blocks has 150 shops each which brings it to a total of 450 shops that will be ready for hand over in the next few days.
“In our design, A line has a total of 14 blocks, each block have 150 shops which brings it to a total of 450 shops that will be handed over in few days”
“The dimension of each shop is 12ft by 8ft which means that a shop owner can still partition his own to the numbers of his choice”
“This should be better termed a Mall not even Market because of what we are injecting to beautify it”
“In our design, they are Banks, Hotels, Parks among others which were all added to make this market the best in Nigeria when completed”
He said the lifters were added to make it easier for traders to quicky access every part of the blocks especially those who may not want to use the manual staircase.
PUO reports that massive work in the three blocks were currently ongoing when reporters arrived the market as almost all the shops have been completed while other finishing touches were being massively carried on by the developers.
When asked the security plans in place for he market, the Trade and Investment Commissioner Chief John Okiyi Kalu said the Market already has a community policing in place as well as other collaborative security efforts by sister agencies.
On the electronic doors installed in the market, the Commissioner said it was in addition to the manual doors which will help the traders in terms of opening and closing their shops daily.
“The electronic doors in place is an addition to the manual doors, so if your electronic door developed fault, you can use the manual doors” he said.
The drainage system and flooding in the market were also being handed by the developer who assured that his company would do a thorough job in the market.
